Ralph Dawson Family of Talbot County, Maryland
by
Iva Evans Thompson - Sallay@aol.com
After working forty years on the Talbot Co Md. Dawson family,
I think I am at least a kissing cousin to most
people in Talbot County. The Sears Papers in the Md.
Historical Society are truly a wonderful addition to our Dawson genealogy
of the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I descend from (a) Eleanor
Dawson who married Robert Lowery and (b) Robert Dawson who
married Sarah Hambleton. Robert & Sarah Dawson had a daughter, Mabel
Dawson, who married Thomas Ball of Bay Hundred District of
Talbot County on 6th April 1741.
Photo: Chesapeake Maritime Museum, St. Michaels, Md.
I was born and raised in St. Michaels - the hotbed of Dawson genealogy! When I was growing up, a Ralph and Thomas Dawson lived nearby. If I had known we were related, I sure would have asked them some questions! The following families are related to me in Talbot County: Carroll, Hunt, Lomax, Ball, Hambleton, Harrison, Gibson, O'Malley, Merrick, Oliver, Sherwood, Barwick, Hussey, and Lewis. My father's side of the family came from Delaware. His ancestors go as far back as those on my mother's side, so it has been a challenge finding these ancestral families.
"Cromwell" was purchased by my great-grandfather Edward Nabb Lomax in 1879. Over the years, I visited the Cromwell family cemetery and have seen many changes, none for the better! The marker for Thomas Impey was replaced in 1917 by Gen. Joseph H. Seth. An article in the Easton Star Democrat dated 1915 pictured a cemetery slab for Thomas Impey who died 1686. Many of the stones in the cemetery had the coat of arms of the deceased which were still legible. Stone slabs for James Impey Dawson, Thomas Impey Dawson, and George Impey Dawson, are not visible today. All of the Edward Lomax family were raised there; his son Charles Lomax eventually bought out his brothers and owned the farm outright.
~ Article above written by Iva Evans Thompson; article below taken from "Bibliography" at end of article.
"Cromwell" descended to Mary Impey, a daughter of Thomas Impey, who married James Dawson, son of Capt. Ralph Dawson. She left the property to her son, Impey Dawson. A feature of Impey Dawson's will is quite remarkable because he emancipated all of his slaves over age 21, or as soon as they reached majority. Impey Dawson willed "Cromwell" to his brother, George Dawson, during the latter's life; then it was to go to sister Mary Kersey, the wife of John Kersey of "Mary's Delight." Mary left four daughters. The property went to her youngest daughter, Mary Impey Kersey, who married Thomas D. Sherwood. At the death of Mary Kersey Sherwood in 1874, the property went to her heirs-at-law, she having died intestate and without descendants. The heirs were her nephews, the children of her sister, Martha Thompson, wife of Dr. Anthony C. Thompson of Cambridge, Md., and Ann Haddaway, the wife of William Haddaway. It was subsequently sold at a trustee's sale for a division among the heirs. Edward N. Lomax purchased the property and resided upon it until the time of his death. It had continued in the family up to 1878.
Thomas Impey's tomb is located at "Delmore's End," formerly called "Cudlington" from "Cromwell." The original tract was divided into several farms. It was bought in 1800 by William Sears who married two Kersey sisters, granddaughters of Francis Kersey of "Mary's Delight." Francis Kersey left "Mary's Delight" to his son, John Kersey, whose two sisters married William Sears. William Sears bought "Cudlington" in 1800, but changed its name to "Delmore's End." The farm has been in the Sears family for 100 years.
Bibliography of Ralph Dawson Family of Talbot Co Md. :
(a) "Colonial Families of the Eastern Shore of Md," Vol 3, by Robert W. Barnes & F. Edward Wright, Westminster, Md: Family Line Publications, 1997, pp. 105-115.
(b) "The Sear Papers" by Dr. Thomas Sears in MD Historical Society, Balto., Md.
(c) Christopher Johnson's Chart of Dawson family in MD Historical Society.
(d) "Dawson Collection," by Charles C. Dawson, modern reprint Higginson Book Co., Salem MA, pp. 215-228.
For Impey-Dawson-Sears family history, see "The Easton Star-Democrat" Saturday, January 16, 1915, article "Cromwell, a Legendary Estate" with footnote by Mrs. Ernault Hawkins Williams re Thomas Impey tomb.
For Ball of Bayside, Talbot County, Md. lineage, see "Maryland Genealogies," Vol 1, Balto. Md: GPC, 1997 reprint, pp. 6-16. "Ball Family Lineage Chart" p. 16 by Emerson B. Roberts & Francis B. Culver.